POLITICS

Memorial Day: What We Owe Our Soldiers

To send soldiers into war without a clear self-defense purpose, and without providing them every possible protection, is a betrayal of their valor and a violation of their rights.

The Conservative Left and Tax Cuts

The Conservative Left and Tax Cuts

A Fox News liberal-conservative debate the other night was very revealing. The discussion was about tax cuts. The liberal (Mort Kondracke) said that tax cuts “are all about numbers.” The conservative (Fred Barnes) was quick to retort, “It’s not...

Bush’s Baseball Tax Fetish

What is it with some Republican leaders and baseball? When it comes to America’s national pastime, the party of lower taxes and less government leaves its principles in the dust. The lead GOP pitcher for sports pork is President Bush, who launched a federally...

The NASDAQ Plummet: A Truly Mean Reversion

Statisticians who watch the stock market are accustomed to using the phrase “mean reversion” to describe how returns from investing in equities tend to come back to their long-term averages after they diverge for awhile. The extraordinary period that ended...

The Role of “The Rich”

The Role of “The Rich”

A recent catalogue from the giant second-hand camera dealer KEH listed a Canon camera made for the Japanese navy during World War II. This model is described as one of only 15 such cameras made and as being still in excellent condition. Its price is $40,000. Most of...

PETA Should Rename Itself ‘The Inhumane Society’

I could tell it was a parody. “Dear Warden Lappin,” began the letter to the director of the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., where Timothy McVeigh is being held, “On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), I am writing...

Friendship is Selfish

Cicero wrote that, “There is nothing more fatal to friendship than the greed of gain.” Although a popular sentiment, it’s a deeply mistaken one. Think about the friends you have. Try to make yourself aware of what you enjoy about those friends...

The Telecommunications Industry Lives

Every time I hear somebody deliver a eulogy for the telecommunications industry, I think of a wonderful analogy that makes me feel better. The argument that the telecommunications industry is dead goes something like this: There is enough capacity in long haul fiber...

John McCain, Traitor

It is time to put the John McCain myth to rest. For years, the national media and a gullible grass-roots following have glorified McCain as a man of integrity who deals in “straight talk.” They have promoted his image as a hero who fought bravely for his...

The War On Merit

America faces a serious threat. It comes from a war being fought within our own borders. The war is on merit, and it may ultimately decide the fate of our society. One place this war is being fought, and lost, is in the U.S. Army. The losers are the Army Rangers, the...

Cultural Bias and the SAT

Cultural Bias and the SAT

Ever since racial quotas in college admissions were banned by Proposition 209 in California and by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas, academics and politicians have been racking their brains to come up with something that would allow quotas to continue under...

Compassionate Liberalism: The Senate’s Charity Case

Now we know which political party is truly the Party of the Little People. Noble Senate Democrats have come to the aid of a downtrodden woman. They are furiously passing the plate for this destitute soul, pulling out all the stops to help her get back on her feet. Who...

‘Civil Rights’ Versus Sports Teams Named After Indians

It is no secret that the civil rights establishment has become a parody of what was once a courageous army for racial dignity and fairness. There was a time when those who claimed to fight against prejudice confronted genuinely terrible injustice: segregated public...

Humorless at Harvard: The Bastion of Academic Slavery

A young Harvard undergrad enraged the campus emperors of political correctness this week when he tried to tickle their funny bones. Justin Fong, a writer for the Harvard Crimson student newspaper, quickly discovered that the emperors have no clothes, no spine, and...

Stock Market: Reasons for Hope and Worry

The date was Dec. 5, 1996. The scene was the ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel. The speaker was Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, keeper of the nation’s money. He had been droning on for 45 minutes with an address on the 83-year...

Hollywood’s Celebrity Bush Bashers

Get ready for the red-carpet parade of egos. It’s Oscar time again. Millions will tune in this weekend to gawk and swoon as the world’s most famous actors and actresses celebrate their favorite subject — themselves. As the night of a thousand stars...

“Conserving” Electricity

“Conserving” Electricity

Has anyone ever pleaded with you not to buy a Rolls Royce? The argument might go like this: So much expensive materials and so many man-hours of highly-skilled hand labor go into producing a Rolls Royce that, if everyone had one, it would drain so many resources and...

It’s A Great Day For Investing

The date was Dec. 5, 1996. The scene was the ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel. The speaker was Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, keeper of the nation’s money. He had been droning on for 45 minutes with an address on the 83-year...

Criminal vs. Immoral

Q: What is the difference between what is “immoral” and what is “criminal”? Isn’t something criminal, so long as it’s objectively judged, also immoral? A: If something is rationally judged criminal, then by definition it’s...

The Catch-22 of U.S. Trade

In his recent testimony before Congress, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick painted an attractive portrait of free nations “bound together by free trade.” But it is a portrait marred by a little-noticed Catch-22 of U.S. trade law that hurts...

Storm Troopers Vs. Free Speech

Storm Troopers Vs. Free Speech

Despite media proclamations of “the public’s right to know” and frequent invocations of the First Amendment, there has been a deafening silence from the national media over the storm trooper tactics used on college campuses against student newspapers...

Bush Should End the Clinton Sponsored Appeasement of China

President Bush meets today with Qian Qichen, China’s deputy prime minister and the first senior Beijing official to visit the White House since the new administration began. Uppermost on Qian’s agenda is the question of arms for Taiwan, which he calls...

The Australian Dollar is Down Under

The Australian Dollar, while recently sinking to 19-year lows, doesn’t seem to have gotten a lot of attention. In fact, the currency has never had the sort of impact on global currency markets as the Yen, the Euro, or the Pound, and even currencies like...

Why California’s Restructuring Failed

Electricity restructuring is a complicated process, in California and across the country. As California faces rolling blackouts and soaring energy prices, the consensus is growing among political activists that restructuring may have been a mistake. Particularly...

Airline Employees Should Be Free To Strike

President Bush has dictated that airline employees may not go on strike for at least two months, and maybe not at all. People like me, who have travel plans next month, should be relieved. Right? Wrong. Why the ingratitude? As much as I want to reach my destination...

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.